Washington DC The closely watched legal battle over a controversial exclusive service policy at the San Diego Convention Center was sent back to a federal judge this week when the US Supreme Court decided not to get involved The high court on January 12 denied a petition from United National Maintenance UNM seeking a review of an August 15 ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that shielded the San Diego Convention Center Corporation SDCCC from antitrust charges The case now goes back to federal court in San Diego for a new trial on UNMs claim of contract interference which was ordered by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals The first meeting with US District Judge Anthony Battaglia was scheduled for March 13 The rebuff from Washington marked another twist in a case that has had show organizers and service contractors concerned about the ability of convention centers to essentially bar outside companies from working in their buildings regardless of valid pre-existing contracts and pricing concerns Unfortunately this ruling could open the door for public facilities to create virtual monopolies on services as they see fit regardless of the show managers pre-signed arrangements or budgets said Richard Simon president CEO of United Service Companies Trade Show Executive and UNM are both subsidiaries of Chicago-based United Service Companies The SDCCC contends it has the legal right to implement exclusive services because it believes exclusives do not constitute a monopoly and because the SDCCC is essentially a city agency that is exempt from antitrust laws However numerous show organizers and industry associations have spoken out against exclusives and say show organizers should have the freedom of choice to designate their service providers In 2010 prominent show organizers and industry associations sent letters to the SDCCC officials asking them to reconsider the policy The Society of Independent Show Organizers SISO released a statement calling exclusive services anti-competitive in a TSE article in August 2010 The International Association of Exhibitions and Events IAEE and the Exhibition Services and Contractors Association ESCA also issued statements Read more from TSEs archives http wwwtradeshowexecutivecom archive industry-news siso-calls-service-exclusives-anticompetitive Simon said SDCCC contends they do not have a monopoly but we respectfully disagree since the SDCCC sets the pricing and has only one service provider the very definition of a monopoly Simon also pointed out The Supreme Court did not rule in SDCCs favor they simply did not schedule the time to review the case given the high volume of cases before them At issue specifically in March will be damages sought by UNM after the SDCCC instituted a policy requiring outside cleaning companies already under contract to general service contractors to use SDCCCs in-house workers at inflated rates A federal court jury in 2011 had found that the SDCCC had violated UNMs contract for cleaning services by declaring in 2006 that UNM would not be allowed to bring in its own workers to do the cleaning during trade shows Instead UNM would have to pay SDCCC to perform their work at rates that were higher in cost than what United was charging current customers United countered by suing in 2007 on the grounds the SDCCC was improperly interfering with UNMs contracts with the general service contractors and trade show organizers The company also accused the SDCCC of antitrust violations alleging the SDCCC wanted a monopoly on cleaning services at the center strictly to collect the revenues The SDCCC steadfastly asserted that the requirement to use an in-house contractor was strictly a Homeland security issue but during the trial later added that it was about revenues as well In a written statement Carol Wallace president CEO of the San Diego Convention Center Corporation told Trade Show Executive We are thrilled with this decision and our victory in the antitrust elements of this case This is a positive outcome for the facility management industry allowing venues to retain control over their buildings operations Wallace further added We anticipate an affirmative outcome on the remaining claim as well In fact the jury did not reach a verdict on the antitrust allegation but when polled the jury voted 7 to 1 in favor of United in the antitrust claims against SDCCC Simon said UNM was awarded 668 905 in damages for contract interference But in a surprise twist the trial judge agreed with the SDCCCs motion to nullify the jury verdict on the grounds their decision was not supported by the law The 9th Circuit ruling in August reversed the reversal but did not reinstate the damages due to a technical issue in the jury instructions The SDCCC said in a statement that the ruling settled UNMs antitrust claims meaning the SDCCC was protected from potential treble damages punitive damages or attorneys fees The only remaining issue the statement said would be compensatory damages for intentional interference with UNMs contracts Reach Richard Simon at 312 922-8558 or rsimon unitedhqcom Carol Wallace at 619 525-5000 or carolwallace visitsandiegocom